Day 154: Good Riddance 2024 - Onward To 2025 !

 

I had so much hope for 2024, but I haven't accomplished anything. I failed miserably getting back on my diet and exercise program. I lost my job. I can't seem to keep my house neat, though I'm trying. Here is a link to my first post of 2024: New Year  I feel like I'm still in the same place. I started and stopped so many times and I have yet to "get it right". I am going to be starting 2025 with the same goals as 2024 .. and 2023 ... and probably 2022. I have to pull myself out of the hole I've dug and start this final section of life: retirement. I'm not going to fool myself into thinking I will magically find a job in the new year. In all honesty, I don't want a new job. This means I have ZERO excuses not to fully devote my life to losing the weight. I have nothing but time. I do not want to end 2025 in the same place. I want to be thinner and happier.

I wrote the paragraph above on 12-16-24. I'm going to repeat it in every blog through 12-31-24.

I was awake around 8 today and got up around sometime after 8:30. There were 2 stray cats waiting to eat , so I fed them and then Minnie. While I was washing out dishes and getting their food warmed, I noticed my neighbor looking out her kitchen window. I decided to get dressed, rather than going out in my usual nightgown to feed them. This was a great idea, because it then led to me putting the trash out ! I was going to wait until next week, but I'm glad to have it out since there were 2 bags plus a heavy bag of used cat litter. I didn't bother with the recyclables since I still have plenty of room in the box I'm using for that. I'll put those out next week. I ended up throwing away the leftover's from CopperTop, since I knew I would not eat it. That was such a disappointment. I also have to say the chicken tenders I made last night were a disappointment. I guess they just taste better in restaurants because they are deep fried ! So often I have food cravings and once I satisfy it, I'm left disappointed. I need to keep reminding myself of this whenever something like that happens. 

I put my bra on as soon as I got up and then put my nightgown back on, since wearing the bra all day yesterday seemed to help my abdominal discomfort. It made a huge difference not having 2 watermelons laying on my stomach ! Once the trash was out I settled on the couch to enjoy my breakfast and coffee.

Yesterday was a good day and I feel like today will be too ! Yesterday I showered, did skin care AND brushed my teeth when I went to bed. Such easy tasks, that are an effort for me !

This morning I happened to see a Facebook post from someone who was experiencing abdominal pain while jogging, and they have a lot of belly fat too ! Many people suggested wearing compression garments to provide support ! This is such a great idea ! I am going to do this when I restart the treadmill. I have a high waisted garment that would do the trick. If it is too tight, I also have some spandex shorts I could try. I've already seen that just wearing a bra makes a huge difference, so abdominal support makes sense too.

Shortly after 10 Minnie decided her morning nap was done and she left me to go enjoy some sun on the kitchen rug. I took the opportunity to boil my eggs and replenish the coffee tree. My stock of coffee is low, so I will replenish that on my next shopping trip. With that task done, I sat down to add to this blog and enjoy a second cup of coffee and a yogurt. Rain is forecast to move in around 7, but it's nice to see the sun ! I'm leaving to go to Kim's house around 6, so I should get there before the rain.

As I mentioned in numerous blogs lately, 2024 was a mostly crappy year. Losing my job sucked. Not being able to get a new job sucked. Gaining all this weight back sucked. Losing Abby sucked. I'm grateful I spent the last 5 years of employment working from home as it allowed me to spend so much more time with Abby. Also, losing my job has allowed me to spend more time with Minnie. She is going to be 16 ! I always remember her age because I found her the year I was diagnosed with leukemia, which was 2009. She was just a kitten when I got sick but Alex took good care of her during that 6 months of hell. Life was so different back then. In 2025 I do not want to dwell on the past. I want to put all that behind me again, and just focus on the present and the future. The past is done and I can't change it. Much of the present is fully within my control and I have an obligation to myself to make the best of it. I do not want to start a new job, but I'll keep looking in order to remain eligible for unemployment benefits. Sadly, my former colleagues that moved to Florida will be facing job loss in 2025 too. I think there are more jobs in their area, so I won't be surprised if they all have new jobs right away. Some are happily coming back to Syracuse as they never wanted Florida to be their permanent home. They made the move to get to retirement eligibility and always planned to come back. Seems crazy considering our weather but they probably have families here.

Laurie finally updated her Facebook to indicate hubby is still in the hospital and once his blood pressure is stable he will be having heart surgery. She'll have a heart attack of her own when the medical bills start to roll in. Like me back in 2009-2010, she'll be facing payment of her 2024 and 2025 deductibles. The only good thing about that is she'll have no out of pocket costs for the remainder of the year. Hopefully she doesn't have the rock bottom coverage option of our medical plan. If she does, she'll be on the hook for a significant amount of money. Her husband was in the ICU (and may still be), so that's extremely costly. Heart surgery and its associated recovery is likely crazy expensive too. She's fortunate to still have her job. Hard to know if she is also losing her job in March as she hasn't said anything about that. They may keep her on as a support person for wherever the work is going. I hope they do, as she will certainly need the money. I don't know anything about her financial position, but I hope she is contributing to a 401k as you can't make it through retirement on Social Security alone and she may not have a pension. I don't remember when they stopped providing the traditional pension to employees. With no pension, you absolutely need a 401k. She is about 10 years younger than her husband and with his health, she may end up with a single income while she is still young. I think he is 65 and she is 55. She had talked about him retiring but I don't know if he ever did. I just hope Mike sails through his surgery and makes a full recovery. Who knows, he may come out the other side feeling better than he has in years ! I hope that for both of them ! Her mom is not in the best of health either and now has oxygen at home. More heart issues ! She went through a scare with her at Thanksgiving and now here she spent Christmas Day at the hospital with her husband ! Laurie has her own health issues too, which she ignores because she is taking care of everyone else. She has a lot of family and friends but as with most people these days, their support is only in words. It's very sad and I hope 2025 brings her some better days !

This is going to be the last post in my 2024 blog. I'm so ready to kick 2024 to the curb ! Although I won't be officially restarting Nutrisystem until January 4, I will spend the first couple of days in 2025 getting ready for that. I did the same thing in 2019. I was going to try making the biscuit cookies, but I just boiled all my eggs and I don't have any 4x sugar to make a glaze. I can't shop for that tomorrow as everything will be closed. Thursday and Friday will bring snow and Saturday is Day 1 ! So, I'm thinking of making them for Easter ! I think they'd be nice with pastel glazes and sprinkles ! For now I put my flour in the freezer to keep it fresh and stored the sugar and other ingredients. I bought Crisco and baking powder but they are not opened, so they'll keep just fine. As 11:30 am passed I was hungry but really didn't want the yogurt I had gotten out. I threw a pizza together and put the yogurt back. So what if it isn't "noon" .. I can have lunch whenever I want ! I plan to eat before I head out this evening too, in hopes I won't eat too much "junk". 

It's 1:15 now and I've had my lunch and made the filling for my deviled eggs. I put it in a ziploc bag to chill for a while as it was a bit soupy. Once it firms up a bit I will fill the eggs. I usually use a spoon to fill them but I have plenty of time and wanted to make them a little nicer looking since it's New Year's Eve ! Piping them from a bag should allow them to be more uniform and neater. I make them several times a year so I may invest in a piping bag with a couple tips. It would probably make the job a little easier and they would definitely look nicer. We'll see ! I used my newfound tip to peel the eggs: putting them in a stainless steel tumbler half filled with water and then shaking the crap out of them. All but one of the 14 eggs shed their shell pretty easily. It used to take forever to peel the eggs and it was often frustrating. I saw this tip on Instagram (I think) and it was probably something cross posted from TikTok.

I keep thinking about the fact that I have 3 days left to get my head on straight and dedicate myself to losing the weight and getting more exercise. Honestly, I don't trust myself to not screw this up yet again. I look around this house and although it's not the disaster it was before the fire, it's not as neat and clean as it should be. Perhaps I will take the next 3 days to work on that. It's so much laziness. Sheets sitting on the dining room table for weeks, waiting to be folded and put away. Carpet needs to be vacuumed and some area's where Minnie barfed will need a little scrubbing. Clear the clutter in the laundry room and on the kitchen and dining room tables. I'll start will putting away all loose Christmas decorations. I'll leave the tree and porch alone until after January 6 but there is not reason I can't put everything else away. My office is in good shape so that might need a 5 minute touchup. Not a ton to do, so I have no excuse. I'd also like to give the shower a good scrub. I would say that will be the most challenging job.

So it looks like the first few days of 2025 will be spent getting my house in order. I think that makes sense ! January 4 I will hit the ground running with diet and exercise. The goal is still 100 pounds by 12-31-25. This is aggressive but completely attainable if I try hard and stay consistent. My new blog will document this journey while linking back to the original journey. I did that for a time in this blog but went off the rails in October. This is going to be me getting back on the track ! Right now I spend too much time scrolling my phone, watching YouTube and playing Cookie Jam. I really want to break the phone habit. I actually forgot my phone Christmas Eve and had to spend the evening at Rich & Barb's without it. I survived ! I would like to do some vlogging on YouTube in the new year, so we'll see if I can make that happen. I have a tripod with a remote for my phone, so it wouldn't be too hard. That's another "we'll see" .. lol !

Ok, as of 2:15 the eggs are done and I brought the garbage bin back into the garage. Putting the filling in a ziploc was a good idea, but I cut the corner wrong and made a bit of a mess at first. If I don't buy a pastry set I will definitely pay closer attention to what type of bag I use. My gallon bags have double corners and when I cut the corner I cut through both of them .. lol.

The winter storm watch has been upgraded to a lake effect snow warning starting at 1 pm tomorrow. They're saying we could get 2-3 feet of snow. I have plenty of food in the house so I'll get through that just fine. My money is still on no snow (other than maybe a flurry) before Friday. We'll see if I'm right ! 

I still have to take a shower and wash my hair, but I have plenty of time. I'll head upstairs about 3 pm and I'll be heading out at 6. I don't know if I'll stay until midnight .. it'll depend on what everyone else does. Last year I didn't get home until nearly 2 am and I was exhausted .. so it likely won't be an early night. I did try to sleep in this morning but once my brain woke up it was all over. Whatever ! I'll survive !

Since I am paranoid, I checked in on my bank account today to ensure my transfer processed. This will cover my mortgage, insurance and internet for January. I've got a pretty good system in place for managing my finances, so I'm happy about that.

I'm signing off on this blog as of 2:40 pm. All that is left for today is to shower and get ready to go out. I will talk about this evening when I complete the first entry in my new 2025 blog, which can be found here: 2025